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Wales Online
4 days ago
- Politics
- Wales Online
Keir Starmer won me a £300k payout from police but I don't recognise him anymore
Keir Starmer won me a £300k payout from police but I don't recognise him anymore Michael O'Brien, who was victim to a horrendous miscarriage of justice, once believed the Prime Minister was 'a very compassionate man' Michael O'Brien, who was wrongly convicted of Phillip Saunders' murder (Image: John Myers / WalesOnline) A Welshman who was wrongfully imprisoned for 11 years has voiced a searing accusation of hypocrisy against his former barrister, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, after losing a legal fight against the UK Government's decision to charge him "bed and board" for his time in jail. Michael O'Brien and two other men — known as the Cardiff Newsagent Three — were jailed for the 1987 killing of newsagent Phillip Saunders but later had their convictions quashed after police misconduct in the case emerged. Following his release Mr O'Brien, of Aberdare, was awarded £650,000 in compensation for the time he spent in prison, though an independent assessor decided £37,000 should be deducted from the payout to account for living costs like rent and food that he would have had to pay for if he hadn't been jailed. Mr O'Brien, 55, recently partnered with Paul Blackburn — who spent 25 years in jail for an attempted murder he did not commit and then had £100,000 bed and board cut from his compensation — to apply for a judicial review of the deduction. This week a High Court judge threw out their application, concluding: "Failing to reopen and increase past lawful compensation awards is not arguably irrational." Speaking to WalesOnline after the outcome, Mr O'Brien said it felt strange to have fought the Government in court given that its leader allegedly once told him the bed and board charge was "outrageous". During his time as a human rights barrister Sir Keir represented Mr O'Brien in a case against South Wales Police over the Cardiff Newsagent Three scandal, and in 2006 won a £300,000 settlement for his client — at the time described by the BBC as "the highest payout of its kind in a case of false imprisonment and malicious prosecution". That case was separate to the bed and board charge, but Mr O'Brien alleges the topic of the deduction came up during his conversations with Sir Keir at the time. "When we won the case he took me up to London," said Mr O'Brien. "He bought me dinner and everything. "We spoke about the bed and board charge and he told me it was outrageous and it should never have happened. He was a very compassionate man at one stage. I don't recognise the guy anymore. "Look at him now. He's allowing his Government to uphold bed and board charges against people who were wrongly imprisoned. I think that's disgraceful. Guilty people aren't charged when they are imprisoned, so why should innocent people be after miscarriages of justice?" 'Not a discrimination' After his conviction was overturned in 1999, Mr O'Brien successfully challenged the bed and board deduction in the High Court, but the UK Government then won in the Court of Appeal. At the time he decided not to appeal that ruling because of legal advice that he could face costs of around £140,000 if he lost again. But the debate returned to the headlines in 2023 when the rape conviction of Andrew Malkinson — who had spent 17 years in jail — was quashed and the then-Tory Government decided Mr Malkinson should not be charged for bed and board. The then-justice secretary Alex Chalk KC scrapped the policy of bed and board costs being deducted from payouts in such cases. But after coming into power last year the Labour government decided the change would not be applied retrospectively — meaning no refunds for people like Mr O'Brien whose compensation was paid before the new policy. In this week's ruling against Mr O'Brien and Mr Blackburn, the judge, Mr Justice Andrew Ritchie, said: "The fact that Government has recently changed the approach to be more generous to those applying after the policy change is not a 'discrimination'... [The ex-prisoners'] applications were dealt with and completed long before the time the policy changed." He added: "Failing to reopen and increase past lawful compensation awards is not arguably irrational. If it were, every time that a new head of compensatory damages was developed in the last 80 years (periodical payments for instance), all old claims would be arguably re-openable on the grounds that the change should have been retrospective." Michael O'Brien and supporters protesting 'bed and board' charge outside the Welsh Secretary's office in Cardiff in June 2025 (Image: WalesOnline/Rob Browne) Mr O'Brien has vowed not to give up the fight. More than 58,000 people have signed a petition against the deduction, and last year his campaigning led to 22 Senedd members signing a motion calling for retrospective repayment of bed and board deductions in cases like his. "I will be writing to every single MP calling on them to raise it in the UK Parliament as well," he said. "There's a lot of MPs who are outraged about it, we know that, but they need to speak up in Parliament." He added: "[This is] about every individual who has been wrongfully convicted and then charged for their stay in prison — a place they should never have been in the first place." The criticism of Sir Keir was not directly addressed by the UK Government, which told us living expenses have not been deducted from compensation since August 2023 but that "as is the case for most Government policy, this change does not apply retrospectively". Article continues below You can read more about the miscarriages of justice against the Cardiff Newsagent Three here.
Daily Record
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Record
Man wrongfully jailed for murder he didn't commit hit with £37,000 bill for prison room
Michael O'Brien was wrongfully jailed for the murder of newsagent Phillip Saunders in 1987. A man who was wrongly jailed for 11 years over a murder he didn't commit was hit with a £37,000 bill for his prison room. Michael O'Brien and two other men — known as the Cardiff Newsagent Three — were convicted of the 1987 killing of Cardiff newsagent Phillip Saunders. However, the trio later had their convictions quashed after police misconduct in the case emerged. Following his release, O'Brien was given £650,000 in compensation. But an independent assessor, Lord Brennan KC, decided £37,000 should be deducted from the payout to account for living costs like rent and food that he would have had to pay for if he hadn't been jailed Nearly 60,000 people have signed a petition backing O'Brien's campaign to be reimbursed. Mr O'Brien, 55, and a group of supporters held a protest on June 27 outside the office of the Secretary of State for Wales, Jo Stevens, in Cardiff's Central Square. As reported in Wales Online, he said: "No one came out even though we gave them the opportunity. They knew we'd be there because I told them we would be. It just goes to show the contempt they've got for us. She [Ms Stevens] should be looking after the Welsh people and raising our concerns. I wrote to her weeks ago and haven't heard back. We've got the backing of 22 members of the Senedd but we have not heard from her at all." Last year a motion backed by 22 members called for retrospective repayment of bed and board deductions in cases like Mr O'Brien's. After his conviction was overturned in 1999, O'Brien successfully challenged the bed and board deduction in the High Court, but the UK Government then won in the Court of Appeal. Mr O'Brien decided not to appeal that ruling because of legal advice that he could face costs of around £140,000 if he lost again. But the debate hit headlines again in 2023 when the rape conviction of Andrew Malkinson — who had spent 17 years in jail — was quashed. The then-Tory Government decided Mr Malkinson should not be charged for bed and board. A review was launched into whether other wrongly convicted ex-prisoners should have their deductions revoked. But the Labour Government opted against this as the Ministry of Justice warned it would mean "significant" costs. O'Brien has now partnered with Paul Blackburn, who spent 25 years in jail for an attempted murder he did not commit and then had £100,000 bed and board cut from his compensation. Hickman and Rose solicitors are representing Mr O'Brien and Mr Blackburn on a 'no win, no fee' basis but they could face heavy costs if the judicial review does not go their way, so they have launched a crowdfunding page. Mr O'Brien said: 'This is not just about us. It's about every individual who has been wrongfully convicted and then charged for their stay in prison — a place they should never have been in the first place. "It is estimated by the Innocence Project that hundreds could be affected by this policy. This practice adds insult to injury for victims of wrongful convictions and must be addressed immediately. We have now been refused legal aid to challenge this unjust decision and aim to raise the funds to cover our legal costs. "They did not charge guilty people for being rightly imprisoned — only innocent miscarriages of justice victims.' The UK Government said that since August 2023, living expenses have not been deducted from compensation but that it is "standard government protocol that policy changes are not applied retrospectively".
